To think you need to deal with a certain amount of hunger to lose weight?

[Cushionwoman]

I feel this way.

I've done exercise and healthy eating. Yes I felt better. But did I ever really lose weight? No.

I'm now sticking to three healthy, smaller meals with no snacking and it's working.

I do go to bed hungry though.

The only other time in my life when I've actually lost weight I had to do this too.

Is that the true nature of a proper lose weight diet? A certain amount of hunger and discipline?

Or is it just me?

[BlackVelvet1]

I think you don't need to be hungry as it's the total amount of calories that counts. Eating loads of greens and cutting fat and carbs works for me.

[SprogletsMum]

Yes I found this. I was basically hungry for 6 months! I did lose 6 stone though.
Now to maintain I have to go to bed hungry a few nights a week but I think I'm just a greedy mare.

[Emilyclimbs]

Sadly I agree. Just started eating healthily portion restriction filling up I. Veg etc and go to bed hungry. I am by no means starving myself. It's tough but I need to reset what my brain considers adequate. The days of unlimited chocolate are over!

[Champagneformyrealfriends]

I agree-I've never lost weight without a certain degree of hunger.

[BriteRainbowBright]

I would absolutely agree with that.

I do healthy eating plans and feel better and healthier for them but never lose much weight.

The only time I've ever lost a substantial amount of weight (1.5st) was when I was super disciplined, ate very very little and was very hungry!!

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

Definitely YABU. If you rely on self-discipline and ignoring hunger, you will fail - our bodies have evolved to stock up on high-calorie food when it's available in times of famine. That's why high-fat, high-protein, low-carb diets work. Yes, you have to deny yourself sugary things, but they remove hunger from the equation so they are easy to stick to. On a low-fat diet, you'll feel hungry and you will end up cheating.

[parrotonmyshoulder]

Absolutely. People need to know that it's okay to feel hungry for a bit. They're not going to die. They just feel a bit uncomfortable. It's okay.

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

Obviously being hungry for a bit is fine - it's normal and good. But if you think you'll lose weight by ignoring low-level hunger and feeling deprived for weeks/months at a time, you're wrong.

[Blerg]

I agree with Jilly. You can't rely on willpower over the long term. If you eat just less you are in danger of negatively affecting metabolism - I've seen some interesting stuff about this in relation to ex Biggest Loser contestants who struggle more and more to keep the weight off and then regain.

For me removing problematic foods (gluten, sugar) mean my weight issues are resolved. I appreciate this won't be the same for all, but when doing this I have no need to be hungry. As an ex yo yo dieter I fear hunger as just the thought of another diet makes me binge. So I had to find a way around it.

[Cushionwoman]

It is taking an AWFUL lot of willpower.

[phoolani]

Tbh I think the problem is more that we think of being hungry as being something terrible. Yes, when we had to forage/hunt for food but now? You should only be eating when you feel hungry - so you should feel hungry at least a couple of times a day and why not just before you go to sleep? - but we've lost that connection between hunger and eating. It's almost like we're afraid of being hungry. Going to bed 'hungry' just means you'll be ready to 'break fast' the following morning. This is not a bad thing.

[Blerg]

Sorry I don't think I explained myself v well. I would just say be careful to avoid calorie-counting yourself into a bigger weight problem (like I did).

[Muskateersmummy]

I disagree. You need to establish what is actual hunger, and what is boredom or thirst. There is no reason to feel hungry when losing weight. You just have to eat the right things, and eat when you are truly hungry.

If I feel hungry between meals I generally have a glass of water or green tea, and if after that I'm still hungry, I'll grab myself something to eat.

In less than a year I lost nearly 3 stone and have kept it off for over a year now.

[BigginsforPope]

I do agree with you OP. In my experience the only time I have lost weight (I lost three stone last year) was being disciplined, eating three smallish meals and no snacks and often going to bed a little hungry. The only other time I lost weight I was very ill with a kidney condition which caused a loss of appetite so I eat a lot less.

I also think you can train yourself live with some hungry feelings and I am not talking starving here, just the initial pangs that start before hunger really kicks in.

[Trills]

You're right.

You (and I) do need to deal with a certain amount of hunger.

Living in a world where we never have to call hungry is lovely in theory.

I think after a while you begin to recognise "perfectly normal before meal hunger" and not find it as irritating or compelling as it is when you are used to never feeling hungry.

[MsVestibule]

But if you think you'll lose weight by ignoring low-level hunger and feeling deprived for weeks/months at a time, you're wrong.

Really? Why?

[LadyAntonella]

Have you tried LCHF at all? You can lose a lot of weight and never feel hungry - I swear!

[BIWI]

Hunger isn't, for those of us in the rich, Western world, usually about having an empty stomach.

It's actually a condition that's controlled by our hormones. When they're 'out of whack', usually because we're eating too much carbohydrate, so that our body is producing huge quantities of insulin, our blood sugar levels trigger another hormone telling us that we're hungry.

Generally speaking, we're not really hungry - but we eat in response to the hormones, so that we're aiming to keep our blood sugar levels stable - which means that a) we're often eating way too much, but also b) that our bodies are laying down a lot of fat because of the insulin response to the amount of carbs we're eating.

If you cut down the amount of carbs you eat, you won't have the spikes of insulin (and the subsequent troughs when the insulin sweeps away the glucose in your blood stream), so you won't be hungry between meals, because you'll be keeping your blood sugar levels stable.

You shouldn't ever need to feel hungry (between meals), or to have to go to bed hungry.

[Lighteningirll]

No I lost three stone and never felt hungry but I do agree with Muskateer you have to learn what is hunger and what is boredom, habit and actually thirst.

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

It shouldn't, cushion. Apart from the willpower to make sensible decisions (not troughing cake!) and exercising when you don't really feel like it. If you're still hungry after a meal (really hungry, not just fancying something else), then you're eating the wrong stuff.

This may be controversial, but I think that often people trying to lose weight eat too much fruit. It's sugar - its effect on your body isn't that different from a Kitkat. If you're hungry and you eat an apple, your blood sugar will spike then drop, and you'll feel hungry again in an hour's time. If you eat a hard-boiled egg, you won't. Calorie content is the same; metabolic effect is different.

FWIW I was about 11.5 stone at my heaviest, so not a huge amount of weight to lose, but I've been comfortably under 10 stone for 5 years now, for the first time in my adult life. I eat what I want, but I know what to want, iyswim?

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

Ms Vestibule - fair enough, you might lose weight, but you won't keep it off long-term.

[MintyChapstick]

YANBU. I lost two stone on Weight Watchers a few years back, and I still remember the gnawing hunger in the evenings for the first couple. It wasn't that I wasn't eating enough, just that my portion sizes has suddenly shrunk and my body wasn't used to it. I quicjly adjusted though.

[PacificDogwod]

No.

Eat high quality fats and protein, reduce your carb intake.
Your insulin spikes will disappear and you won't be hungry if you eat when hungry and stop when satisfied. And satisfied you will be

It's the only change of eating pattern that has worked for me and I don't see myself changing anytime soon.

[PacificDogwod]

It's actually a condition that's controlled by our hormones

Absolutely.

Read up about insulin, insulin resistance and ghrelin etc.

[AdrenalineFudge]

I broadly agree. But I think the main thing is discipline. It takes an awful lot of will power to stick to a regime.